


As We Fall

by CinnamonnyBunny



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Brotherly Angst, Co-Written, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Leo & Mikey mentioned, Neurodivergent Donnie, Raph gets hit by a bus, but not one that's actually being driven, if Nickelodeon will not give me episodes I will just have to make the content myself, not tc/st
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:33:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25845112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonnyBunny/pseuds/CinnamonnyBunny
Summary: Donatello is a genius. His many inventions have improved the quality of life of his family, and even provided him protection where he lacks the hard shell his brothers were hatched with. But sometimes machines fail, and sometimes that is very dangerous indeed...Takes place between "Clothes Don't Make the Turtle" and "Battle Nexus: New York."
Comments: 7
Kudos: 84





	As We Fall

**Author's Note:**

> This is an edit of an ongoing rp between me and my friend Jeli, with me writing for Donnie and her writing for Raph. Edited for clarity and flow.

Donatello was a genius. This much was simply a known fact; a quantifiable, measurable statement of a genuine truth. With this came many things, including an affinity for technology far beyond even some of the greatest minds on the surface. And his technology kept him safe from many things. With a soft, pliant shell, Donnie was much more vulnerable than his brothers, and he’d known that since he was a child. Since the day Raph had gashed open his shell - not on purpose, never on purpose, but it had happened all the same - he’d known he would have to be cautious.

That was why, when the worst possible scenario came to pass and he found himself in the field without his battle shell, he was keenly aware that he was in danger. No time was this more evident than right now. They’d been fighting for hours, and he’d had to remove the battle shell when it had taken damage severe enough that he may have risked electrocution if he left it on. But now, he was left with a massive yokai flinging a mangled bus right at him, and with nowhere to run and no way to fly out of the way, the soft-shell could do nothing but panic, curling himself onto the ground as tightly as he could, praying it passed over him. There just wasn’t any time to run.

But instead of being crushed under the weight of a sideways bus, however, something else occurred: he was briefly aware of a shadow passing over him, and then the awful yelling of his oldest brother coupled with some of the most awful sounds he’d heard in his life. He didn’t have to have heard it before; it was obvious what it was.

The sound of a shell cracking.

Dark eyes flew wide and he stared up in horror, jaw locked, whole frame trembling at finding the alligator snapper still barely bracing himself on his hands and knees, using his shell to take the hit meant for his more fragile brother.

“Raph… Raphael, Raph, what are you doing, what did you do-?!”

As for Raph, he hadn’t even thought.

Being the eldest, or even the leader, didn’t mean he thought things through all of the time... but he at least came up with some kind of plan. There were times, though, that all thought vanished and only one thing went through his head. It’s more of an urge, an emotion pushing him into action without the grace of worded thought. Like when Leo had been dropped off of that rooftop and right now, with Donatello in the growing shadow of that bus.

 **Move**.

He’d accepted from a rather young age that he was different than his brothers. Durable. Things that would put bruises on them were barely bothersome to his thicker scales, and as soon as they started going out and getting into trouble, Raph had just put himself between them and any harm they came across. He could take a hit. He could take it, and he would take it, because they needed him to. Even when they’d gotten their mystic weapons, he’d put everything he had into being bigger, keeping space between whatever wanted to hurt his brothers and them. Even if it included a bus, flying through the air, side on at thirty miles an hour.

So Raphael had lunged, swung himself around and planted himself overtop of his sibling, bracing for what he’d known would come. Glowing red energy swirled around his hands from his tonfas, still braced in his hands, up his arms and shoulders, giving him that extra strength to hold back. And even as the bus hit, as metal warped around him and glass shattered, Raph stayed planted. He would not move. That mutant could throw anything he liked, but he would not move.

And he didn’t… but he couldn’t hold back the hoarse scream that ripped from his throat when he felt that horrible crack go through his shell. It was enough to make his elbow give - the whole thing shifted, and Raph let go of a strangled growl, breathing rattling as he pushed back up onto his palm. Donnie was still there. At least it worked.

He had never been one to let his temper loose, especially not on his brothers, but with three thousand pounds on his back and pain tearing through nerves that had never felt anything near it before, he was a little short.

“Shut up and move, Donnie!”

In truth, they had seen a lot more scary things than kids their age probably should have seen by now. Donnie often tried to play a lot of it off, pretending it didn’t bother him, but he had nightmares the same as many of his brothers, and moments like this reminded him that there was so much worse lingering around every single possible corner. His dark eyes were round, staring up at his oldest brother, rooted to the spot in something between fear and horror.

This was the worst possible scenario. He knew that Raphael was strong, physically. He was built like a tank, could lift all of his brothers plus April effortlessly - often with one arm, and sometimes even large falls weren’t enough to really severely damage him. Like most kids, it gave him an almost superhero-esque view of his older brother, even though logically he knew it was a silly notion. Raph was as mortal as any of them, and though his spiky shell was much thicker and tougher than his own, that didn’t mean it couldn’t be damaged.

In this one moment, he felt impossibly small. Staring up at his towering brother, breath coming in quick, panicked bursts, shoulders heaving. Every bit of him ached as his muscles tensed, threatening to overwhelm him as fight and flight warred in his head. He couldn’t forget what he had heard over the sounds of wrenching metal and shattering glass: the sharp, horrible crack of Raph’s shell.

Donnie knew Raph had told him to run but he couldn’t. It was like every inch of him was tingling, and all at once, all his walls had dropped. He wasn’t the cool loner, the stoic genius, some misunderstood teen struggling to fit in, all the things he always tried so hard to appear to be… he was a scared fourteen year old kid staring up at the older brother who had just taken a grievous hit to protect him.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

“Wh- no! No, I’m not leaving! Raph, your shell, I need- I have to check your shell, I heard it crack!”

The words caused Raph to groan, squeezing his eyes shut just a little more tightly for a moment. _Oh, please, Donatello, now is not the time to lose your head._

Opening his eyes to look at his brother seemed to be useless. There was a dark edge around his vision, and everything was blurry. Whether it was from the dust or the tears or just taking the term blinding pain too literally, he didn’t know. Might be all three. Might be none. Maybe he was just going blind. Yeah, just what he needs to end the day off. Break his shell, freak his brother out, and go blind.

Shock. This was shock. Right? Had to be. That was why he was all lightheaded, and shaky, and for some reason he was almost giddy? It didn’t make much sense… but somehow Donnie’s response was amusing, and Raph gave a weak chuckle, though his whole body stayed stiff, and his eyes didn’t dare shift from the one spot on the ground, as if even looking away would cause this whole thing to come crashing down onto them both. Well… more than it already had, anyway.

Something shifted from above, and Raph’s face contorted as he struggled to keep himself braced, agony radiating from his back. He pulled in a shaky breath, and his claws dug just a little bit more.

“Donnie, my shell’s the only thing holdin’ this bus up.” Why was his voice so calm? Shouldn’t he be freaking out? His shell was cracked; Donnie said so. So why wasn’t he freaking out? “So unless you plan on gettin’ x-ray vision, you really need to get out of the way before I drop it.”

For a moment or three, the words didn’t process. Donnie couldn’t seem to move… and then all at once, some grip of sanity returned to him, and he moved to scramble out of the way, wincing at a dozen little scrapes and cuts on his limbs and his vulnerable shell. Raph needed out from under there as much as he did, and there wasn’t anything he could do if it crushed them both.

Still, he felt like retching, panic still clenched tight in his gut, fingers cold and numb, heart racing so fiercely he worried it might leap right out of his plastron. How bad was the damage? What could’ve happened if Raph hadn’t jumped in?

Would his older brother survive that kind of catastrophic injury?

Swallowing hard, he tried to find his voice, and distress shot through him at how uneven and high it came out of his throat. “Raphael, move; I”m clear!”

Now he just needed to not have a panic attack until after he could see to Raph’s injuries, and make sure they could get him home safely, guilt curling deep into his chest at the scene unfolding.

Why hadn’t he been more careful?!

As soon as he was given the all clear, Raphael just slumped, mystic energy dissipating from around his hands and arms. The metal of the bus had warped enough that while it did fall with him, it didn’t completely crush him all over again. He just needed a second, that’s all. Just a minute. Pretty sure his arms are shaking from the strain despite utilizing the magical tonfa he’d come to rely on, but hey, they were both alive and that was all he could focus on right now.

But they couldn’t stay here. That mutant was likely still around, somewhere. Maybe Leo and Mikey had managed to distract it… run it off. He sure hoped so. Because right now, it took an insane amount of effort to drag himself out from beneath this thing and flop onto his plastron beside Donnie. Was it normal for every breath to hurt? Probably. Just got his back split open. That didn’t not hurt.

“We gotta go.” Raph mumbled, pulling his arms under him again so he could get up. If he stayed down, he wouldn’t be moving anytime soon. And as strong as Donnie was, he certainly wasn’t carrying his spiked tail home. “Y-You good? Leo’s.. Leo’s got your battle shell–”

Hoo boy, that was a woozy spell. Despite his brother’s panicked expression, he weaved, heavily leaning his shoulder against the bus so he didn’t fall right back down.

That feeling of panic that had been creeping up Donnie’s spine before doubled the instant Raph slumped. He knows full well that there was no way he could easily get Raph anywhere, not like this. He couldn’t carry Raph- it would probably take all of them combined to get him home like this, and even that would be a challenge. But like this? With him, the weakest physically, the most unprotected… the weak link.

Something clenched in his chest and he had to gasp to remember to breathe before immediately moving to his oldest brother’s side, doing his best to still his shaking hands as he checked over the damage to his shell. Not as bad as he’d feared, but still worse than he thought.

The feeling of his fingers going numb was not on his top ten list right now.

“I don’t care about my battle shell right now I care about your shell!” The words came out in a blurted rush, and he clenched his jaw, knowing full well this would hurt Raph the instant he did it. But he needed to check- he needed to know the depth of that crack. One hand on his brother’s shoulder, he carefully probed his fingers around the fissure, trying to gauge its depth. “We can’t go anywhere right now with you like this, Raph, okay?! We- I don’t- I have to figure out how to get you home or to the tank where we can get this disinfected and filled with resin and-”

As Donnie rambled, Raph squinted. Oh, his head was not right. Leaning his weight on the bus, he barely heard a word the genius was saying, lifting one hand to his head while he blinked to try and get some focus. He didn’t need to pass out here. Don’t pass out. If he went back down, he was not getting up again, so he was going to stay on his feet whether he liked it or not.

Except when Donnie decided to poke around and send fire up his spine.

A strained growl came from his throat, and his knees nearly gave out from under him. The crack was deep enough to draw some blood, but it was just oozing. The jagged edge extended from the lip over his shoulder to his spine, but stopped there. Like a slice in a pizza, from the center to the edge. Thankfully it didn’t go further, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t sending pain through his whole back.

“I c–hnngh.. I can walk.” Just… stay on your feet. If he stayed on his feet, he would be fine, he could get home. _Don’t let Donnie see how much it hurts, ‘cause he’s already freaking out and showing it will make it worse so that’s no good for anyone. Just. Stay up._ “M-move while w-we can, Donnie…”

Move while he could. He might not make it to the lair, but Raphael will be damned if he can’t at least get them underground and out of harm’s and flying buses’ way.

But Donnie… he felt sick. His stomach was churning as he tried his best to brace Raph, and he cursed his lack of battle shell. If he had it, he would have the reaching spindly metallic limbs hidden inside of it. It was so unsettling to see his oldest brother like this, too. His strong, tough, fierce big brother, always in charge, always standing strong. Donnie wasn’t necessarily prone to panic, or at least he tried not to be... but this? He had to think of something to do.

Swallowing hard, he moved around, sliding his smaller frame up under Raph, so that his pliant, leathery shell was pressed up into his plastron. He couldn’t support all of his weight, but he could offer the tiniest bit of support, hands shaking slightly.

They needed Leo. They needed the medbay. They needed to be home, where he could more properly care for his brother's injuries. Give him antibiotics, give him painkillers. See to his care, make sure he's healthy and safe, and can recover in peace.

"L-lean on me. It's fine. You'll be okay. I can support some of your weight."

"N- no." Raph knew he'd make the same choice if he had a second go around. If that bus cracked his shell, he could only imagine what it would have done to Donnie's. But he didn't go through all of that effort just to squish Donnie when his strength finally gave out. "On t-the side."

The snapper forced his feet under him, and made them move. It took all of his effort just to get them started, but when he did, it was much easier to keep going. Just don't stop. He couldn’t hear the fight anymore, which was great. Neither of them could take on much of anything right now… not like this.

"S'blurry."

Dust, he told himself. It was probably just dust from the hit. Or shock. That too. Donnie was going to have to tell him where to go. It hurt less to keep moving; he was sure that when he stopped and relaxed, trying to move again was going to hurt more than the initial wound.

_So just keep going._

"We just need to get to the tank. Once we're in the tank, we have a first aid kit. I can... I can do some preliminary patching that way."

The soft-shell did his best to keep his voice level and firm, as emotionless as ever, but the edges frayed and wavered uneasily. He did at least listen when his brother insisted he move to his side… even if he desperately wanted to hold him up himself. He didn’t know what else to do. But if they could get to the tank... if they could just get to the tank, he could see to it that his brother stayed safe. That he wouldn't be hurting anymore.

"Just keep walking with me, Raph; you'll be fine. We'll call Leo and Mikey from the tank. Let them know I've got you. We'll get you all patched up and you will be right back to it in no time at all. You'll see. It'll be just fine."

For a moment or so, Raph’s vision swam, and he had to fight to refocus as Donnie spoke. The tank. Where was the tank? He couldn't even see it. He had forgotten about the tank. At least he didn’t have to walk all the way home. Sucked that Donnie lost his shell… they could have just called the tank. Or gotten Shelldon to call the tank.

Leo had the damaged battle shell. _Stupid._ Leo wouldn't know how to call the tank. _Rude._

"I know," Raph mumbled, stubbornly keeping one foot going in front of the other. Moving his tail hurt, but it was making it easier to balance by taking some of the weight. "Y'got me. S'b-be fine."

It genuinely worried Donnie, how uneven his brother sounded, and how sluggish his steps were. He knew he was in pain, and he knew that blow would have probably killed him had Raph not intervened with a mixture of pure brute strength and mystic powers- him or any of their other brothers, for that matter. He tried not to focus on it, at least. If he focused on it, he would worry more. And if he worried even more, he would make mistakes. Right now, Raph didn't need mistakes. He needed him at the top of his game.

And so he swallowed hard, furrowed his brow, and swallowed the emotion. Overstim threatened to creep in at the edges of his thought processes, and he could already feel that horrible sensation crawling in his skin at the physical contact. But he didn't let go, or move away.

For Raph, he had to push through that.

"Of course it will be. I'm a genius. I can fix anything." He could. He could fix it. He could fix this. He had to. "Where would you dumb dumbs be without me, huh?"

Raph’s snout scrunched up, just slightly. _Not under a bus._

It was mean. That was mean. That was very rude, and he was going to shove that thought away and pretend he didn't think it. He stumbled, lost in his thoughts, but managed to keep his feet under him and keep going. They couldn't be far now. Right? Maybe.

"Jersey."

That was a better answer- a funny answer. He wanted Donnie to relax. He could feel the tension in his sibling beneath him, and he really really hated it. Donnie was scared. It was easy to feel it, and to see it- vaguely. Donnie didn't ever deserve to be scared, but Raph was the reason why, so he couldn't really drive that off.

He was so tired.

They weren't far. Even if Raph didn’t, Donnie knew that much. It was maybe another block to where they left the tank before the fight really got started, and now he was just keeping himself focused, one foot in front of the other. Raph may not have voiced that thought, but it wasn't as if Donnie wasn't thinking it. He didn't have a mystic weapon; he just had his tech. And even his tech wasn't enough to stop this- he'd lost his battle shell early on.

But even that wouldn't have been enough to stop the bus. He was small, slim, vulnerable... **soft**. The word soured in his chest and he made a face briefly before adjusting how he was holding on to Raph's arm. This wasn't about him. It was about his brother.

He could just see the tank.

"Ugh, that would be the worst. Who would ever want to wind up in Jersey? Willingly or unwillingly. Guess that just means it's for the best that you've got me."

"Mm."

Jersey was bad news. The dumpster of cities. That was bad news. He wasn’t sure why, because he had never been there, but that was what everybody else said. Everything was legal in New Jersey. Would they be legal in New Jersey? Maybe they wouldn't be the weirdest things over there.

Something warm dripped down his arm, and it took a second of squinting for him to actually realize that he's bleeding. When did he start bleeding? Shells didn't have blood… did they? Wasn't it all in like his muscles and stuff? That was where the veins were. Maybe he should have paid attention more to Leo's ranting.

"Yeah… I’ve got you."

Donnie glanced up at his words, and he felt his stomach flip at spotting the blood dripping down Raph's arm. They needed to get to the tank soon, and they needed to seal that with resin. Clean first, then resin. Clean first, resin, painkillers. Antibiotics. They had a first aid kit in the tank. They could do more at home, but for now? They couldn’t risk an infection. Already he could feel his hands start to shake. No, he couldn’t let himself get overstimmed now. The last thing he needed was to let overwhelm take him... not when Raph needed him like he did now.

When they got to the tank, he stared at it for a moment, wondering how he was even going to get Raph inside. But finally, he just shifted so he can slap a button on his bracer, popping open a sealed hatch on the side.

Good thing he listened to Leo on that.

"Just a little further. This is probably gonna hurt, big guy, but we need to get up these steps and then you can lay down. Okay? You got this."

Raph winced as he bumped his head into the tank, but he did feel a twinge of relief at the sight of it. Home safe. That was safety. He was so close to being able to chill out and relax again. Donnie was safe, he was safe. But the other two were...

"M-Mikey’n… Leo?" Raph mumbled, looking down at the hatch.

He could manage this, he told himself. Donnie needed him to. Nobody was lifting him up those steps, so he had to do it himself. 

Beyond that, he didn't make a sound, though lifting his legs like that was much worse than he expected. Laying down sounded so nice. But the other two. They had to be okay. His shell could wait; he had to know they're okay.

"I'll call them. As soon as we're inside, I promise. But I can't lift you up these steps myself, Raph, I need you to go up. If you collapse out here, I can't move you."

He was part way up. It was a start. But Donnie knew full well there was no way he could get his oldest brother up into the tank alone, and even with Mikey and Leo's help it would be a Sisyphean task. The panic had started to creep into his voice now, and though Raph's weight was helping to keep it somewhat at bay, it was warring with his instinctive dislike of being touched when things got to be too much.

The sooner he could get Raph laying down the better. If he could work on treating his injuries, he could detach his thoughts. Observe and react clinically to make certain he would experience as little discomfort as possible.

_Why did he have to lose his battle shell? This is all his fault…!_

"Besides, I'm sure they're fine. We'd have heard... something, surely. So let's get you in and I'll call. It's fine. It'll be fine."

The big snapper groaned. Inside. Just get himself inside, and Donnie could call the others, and they would all be fine. The rest of the steps looked like they were getting further away by the second, and he really really wanted to just lay down. But Donnie needed him to move. Donnie couldn't move him alone. 

_Move, Raphael._

A grimace broke over his face as he forced his legs to keep going, swiping out with a hand to grab at the wall and help pull himself up. It hurt. Everything hurt. Why the hell did he think he could take on a bus?

Oh, right. Because his little sibling was in the way of getting crushed and he was not about to let that happen. It was a hit strong enough to crack through two inches or more of solid keratin. If that had been Donnie...

No. He was the only one that could have taken that hit. And that was the thought that made the pain worth it, and able to be pushed down enough for Raph to practically drag himself up into the tank. And that was as far as he got, because his knees were getting shaky, and as far as his mind was concerned, it was Lay Down Time.

A swell of panic sank into Donnie’s chest almost immediately when Raph laid down on the floor of the tank- but the important thing is that he was inside. Far enough that when they needed to, he could close up that hatch. He did take a moment, at least, to go about collecting what he needed to start first aid, but he followed that up with a call to the rest of their brothers. Even his shoulders started to relax just that tiny bit, even if he felt sick to his stomach.

He tried not to focus on the blood oozing from the crack.

Hearing his twin's voice, and Mikey's voice, set him at least somewhat more at ease, even if he feels like he's ready to shake apart. Both of them were frantic: the yokai had been driven off, but they couldn’t find their brothers. But Donnie explained as best he could, and they agreed to meet them back at the tank as quick as they could. Leo was exhausted- no portalling. But they would at least bring the damaged battle shell. The very thing that had gotten him into this mess.

The call ended, he let out a sigh, trying to collect his thoughts… and once he was more settled, he got to work. His hands fell on Raph's shoulders, and he immediately felt his scales crawl. He didn’t need his touch aversion to flare up now!

"Okay big guy, we know they're safe. So I'm gonna... I have to clean this out, okay? It's... it's gonna hurt. But you have to try to hold still, okay? Just... I don't want to make it worse." Swallow the emotion. Stamp it down as hard as he could. "You'll be okay."

On the floor, Raph’s vision began to swim again. Relaxing was a bad idea just like he'd thought, but now it was quickly turning into “don't pass out.” There was no way that he's going to conk out into oblivion and leave Donnie alone here with his sleepy, bleedy body when there was potential danger around. Rest was going to have to wait until the other two got here.

Now that Donnie was talking, and he didn’t need to focus on moving, his mind was taking it wherever it liked. How bad was it? Could shells fall off? Donnie looked so scared. _I thought shells were our spines- did I just break my back?_

Donnie's hands touched his shoulders, and the thoughts ran off while his attention broke.

He barely heard Donnie at that point, ready to sleep for a month, but he shifted one arm around to bring his thumb up. He was tired, and Donnie didn’t need to deal with all of this right now, but it wasn’t as if Raph could reach back there himself and do it. Arms didn’t exactly bend backwards like that, let alone reach where he needed it to.

And Raph wasn’t wrong: Donnie was scared. He was terrified, actually. Raph was barely responding to him now, and all that he could think is that something is terribly wrong. Swallowing that down hard, he forced himself to focus: it wasn’t that bad, it was just the shock. He was in pain; it made sense that his body would shut down. He just... needed sleep. Just not right now. Not while he was barely holding himself together as it was.

He swallowed hard and settled himself to work cleaning the wound, steeling himself for any thrashing he may encounter from his older brother. Raph was much bigger and much stronger than he was, but he had the benefit of being uncannily fast: there were a few good things that came with being a spiny soft-shell, he supposed.

But that didn't mean he wasn’t nervous, and his brain felt like it was mired in molasses. Once Raph was out of danger and they were safe at home... then he could break down.  
Not before.

If they were anywhere else, or if the other two were here, there probably would have been some more protest than there was from Raph. The cleaning burned. The sensation of it spread to his arms, but Raph gritted his teeth and pressed his face into the floor, letting out a strangled growl.

Donnie was helping him, and he wasn’t going to make it worse by losing his mind and freaking his sibling out. Cleaning hurt, but it was necessary, and temporary. So Raph dug his claws in against the floor and tried not to breathe too deeply. Donatello was just as scared as he was, and that thought combined with the new sting was enough to keep him awake. 

But man did he wish it wouldn't.

It took a lot of work for Donnie to focus, but focus he did, forcing away his fear and anxiety and settling into that cold, empty place in his mind that let him work. No emotion, nothing but logic and cold, hard facts. The cleaning solution, the rags, the chemical smell drowning out everything else. Not the warm, wet feeling that seeped past the cold solution and the thick rags. Not the sound of Raph's strangled, pained growl.

He barely even noticed when his twin joined him to help, mixing and pouring the resin once the cleaning was done, and he didn’t register Mikey anxiously hovering nearby after settling the damaged battle shell to the floor where Donnie could just see it nearby. Leo’s surprisingly calm, reassuring words beside his head as they worked, side by side, eased some of his anxiety. At least he was here.

It would take all of them to get Raph out of the tank once they got home, and he knew that. But hopefully with enough painkillers he could get to his feet once more and stagger his way up to the little space he and Leo had spent days cleaning out and fixing up into a makeshift medical ward. He had thought, as a child, that it was just for little things. Getting sick, getting cuts. Maybe the occasional broken arm, if roughhousing got too much.

He hated what it meant now. "We're going home now Raph. You're gonna be okay."

The other half of the team had arrived, and despite the continued pain as the twins continued their work, most of Raph's anxiety faded. Whether the cleaning just burned away his nerves or the resin didn't actually hurt as much, he wasn’t not all too sure. But the burning sensation faded into a sharp throbbing instead, and it wasn’t quite as bad.

Leo was right there. He was going to stay with Donnie and help him out, and Raph knew that. The twins stuck together, and there was no way that Leo was missing the look on Donnie's face. His reassurance wouldn't mean much to them both. But the youngest? He could help with that. Raph stretched a shaky hand out, and felt a flash of relief once it was grabbed and clung to.

They were good now. He was fine. He wasn’t bleeding all over the floor anymore, and the crack was dealt with. The others were here. They were safe.

His head lulled to the side, grip loosening on Mikey’s hand as he slipped into unconsciousness.

And that was that. Donnie knew he couldn’t focus enough to drive, and Leo was too focused on him, especially with Raph tapping out on them. So instead he focuses on something else: setting the tank to auto-pilot, taking them home. And then he sat himself down next to Raph's head, curled as tightly in on himself as he could get… and everything just sort of snapped.

In an anxious rush, he all but shoved his goggles off, followed by his bracer, gloves, and athletic wraps. Anything against his scales feels too much, too tight, too present. With that done, he just pulled his knees up tightly against his chest, chin resting on his knees as his arms wrapped around them, focused on the way his oldest brother's shell rose and fell with his breathing. It was that little thing that he needed to get them home, safe, and to get Raph safe in the medbay while he recovers.

He had to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> _Tell me, where do I go?  
>  Tell me, where do I take us?  
> Your heart is starting to slow;  
> May the water be safer as I dive in..._
> 
> _Bloodstains washing underneath the waves...  
>  (As we fall, as we fall...)  
> I'll be reaching out to keep you safe (as we fall)...  
> (As we fall, as we fall...)_


End file.
